Why having to talk to crew to do things sucks...

Safe-Keeper · 03-12-10, 11:14 PM

Yeah, it's a decent system on the surface, but it suffers from several faults:

Limited "Abilities" that shouldn't be either tied to a specific officer or limited in any way; I should be able to man the deck gun even if the Watch Officer is wounded. I should be able to rig for Silent Running whenever I want to, without having to recharge the ability.
The fact that you have to run about in the sub to issue orders.
The way experience is distributed by means of "Promotion Points". Sure, in reality your bosun would get better at motivating his crew, and your radio officer would get better at listening for enemy radio traffic (other less realistic things, like "overclocking" torpedoes, I can live without). But in reality, you gain experience at something by doing that thing. Gaining promotion points that you spend on making your crew better at certain skills makes me think of Dungeons&Dragons and other RPG games where you can, for example, gain 3 skill points in your Swim skill by killing a dragon in the middle of a desert with your sword. It's an arcade approach that I really don't think fits in a simulator like Silent Hunter.
The fact that morale is tied to talking to your crew. I'm the skipper of my boat. If there's a need for a ship counsellor, fine, I can hire a counsellor. Heck, I would even be willing to spend renown on a therapeutic dog. But having to patrol the sub in person to talk to people about their families, violins and personal grudges to keep their morale up? I don't mind the ability to talk to them myself, in fact I appreciate it for its immersion, but it shouldn't be forced upon you the way it is now.

03-12-10, 11:14 PM	#7
Safe-Keeper Ocean Warrior Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Norway Posts: 3,234 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Yeah, it's a decent system on the surface, but it suffers from several faults: Limited "Abilities" that shouldn't be either tied to a specific officer or limited in any way; I should be able to man the deck gun even if the Watch Officer is wounded. I should be able to rig for Silent Running whenever I want to, without having to recharge the ability. The fact that you have to run about in the sub to issue orders. The way experience is distributed by means of "Promotion Points". Sure, in reality your bosun would get better at motivating his crew, and your radio officer would get better at listening for enemy radio traffic (other less realistic things, like "overclocking" torpedoes, I can live without). But in reality, you gain experience at something by doing that thing. Gaining promotion points that you spend on making your crew better at certain skills makes me think of Dungeons&Dragons and other RPG games where you can, for example, gain 3 skill points in your Swim skill by killing a dragon in the middle of a desert with your sword. It's an arcade approach that I really don't think fits in a simulator like Silent Hunter. The fact that morale is tied to talking to your crew. I'm the skipper of my boat. If there's a need for a ship counsellor, fine, I can hire a counsellor. Heck, I would even be willing to spend renown on a therapeutic dog. But having to patrol the sub in person to talk to people about their families, violins and personal grudges to keep their morale up? I don't mind the ability to talk to them myself, in fact I appreciate it for its immersion, but it shouldn't be forced upon you the way it is now. __________________ First Strike Mod tester. Hardcore sub skipper.